Suppressing content of a social network

ABSTRACT

A method of suppressing content of a social network, the method comprising monitoring for a number of gestures of rejection of content on the social network from a number of users, generating suppression data based on the gestures of rejection, receiving input from a first user among the number of users indicating that the suppression data is to be leveraged, and suppressing content based on the suppression data.

BACKGROUND

Users of a social network often share content with other users of thenetwork. Different content may exist such as photos, news feeds,bookmarks, and websites, among others. This content may be posted orotherwise shared on the social network sites to those associated withthe user. This may provide the user with a way to show support for, showan interest in, or promote awareness of the subject of the content. Thetotal amount of content viewable on the social networking site by a usermay depend on the number of other users the user has associatedhim/herself with as well as how much information is shared to the socialgroup by those other users.

SUMMARY

According to one example, the present specification describes a methodof suppressing content of a social network, the method comprisingmonitoring for a number of gestures of rejection of content on thesocial network from a number of users, generating suppression data basedon the gestures of rejection, receiving input from a first user amongthe number of users indicating that the suppression data is to beleveraged, and suppressing content based on the suppression data.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment or an embodiment combining softwareand hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a“circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the presentinvention may take the form of a computer program product embodied inone or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable programcode embodied thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principlesdescribed herein and are a part of the specification. The illustratedexamples do not limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a computer network which may be usedin connection with a social network according to one example of theprinciples described herein.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a method of suppressing content viewedwithin a social network according to one example of principles describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Computer networks provide any number of persons with the ability tosocialize over the network with others in a social group. Often theseusers look to share information over the computer network with othersassociated with that social network. This information may be uploaded tothe social network site or typed out in blog, microblog, or forumformat. As the number of users of a social network sites increase, thepotential that all the information uploaded to the social network sitebeing pertinent to each user individually may begin to decrease. Indeed,although a first user may be “friends” with or otherwise associated witha second user, any comments or content presented by a third user who isfriends with the second user may not be interesting to the first user.

Any single user is, therefore, bombarded with an ever increasing amountof information presented via the social network site. The amount ofinformation to be reviewed by any one user is further compounded by thefact that some individual users are members of more than one socialnetworking site or group. The amount of time spent reviewing all theinformation and content presented to any one user through his/her datachannels consequently increases over time and activity on the site.

Those persons who the user is associated with in the separate networkingsites may have overlapping perspectives and interests. As a result, itmay be more likely that the content that one user finds of more or lessof value will also be of more or less value to other users in thatnetwork.

The present specification, therefore, describes a system and method ofreducing the amount of unimportant information by taking advantage ofthe experiences of other in the user's behavior on the social network.Based on the consumption habits and behaviors of other users of thenetworking site, a single user may be able to have that unimportantcontent or “noise” filtered out such that the user may spend a minimalamount of time, if any at all, addressing the unimportant content. Asother users “prune” out the noise, users interacting with the content onthe social network may achieve time savings and more streamlinedconsumption of meaningful content.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present systems and methods. It will be apparent,however, to one skilled in the art that the present apparatus, systemsand methods may be practiced without these specific details. Referencein the specification to “an example” or similar language indicates thata particular feature, structure, or characteristic described inconnection with that example is included as described, but may not beincluded in other examples.

In the present specification and in the appended claims, the term“social network” is meant to be understood broadly as any onlinecommunity where people with interests and goals can interact, makeconnections, and collaborate. The creation and maintenance of the onlinesocial network may be realized by any number of physical hardwaredevices used to create and online service, platform, or site. Forexample, the social network may be maintained by any number of computingdevices interacting together forming a hardware network through whichany number of users may interact. Some examples of social networkingservices may include Facebook®, Google+®, and Twitter®. Other examplesand types of social networks exist and the present specificationanticipates the use of the present system and method with those socialnetworks.

Additionally, in the present specification and in the appended claimsthe term “noise” is meant to be understood broadly as any informationthat a user of the system deems to be unimportant. Noise may include anyamount of content provided on a social network site.

Still further, in the present specification and in the appended claimsthe term “content” is meant to be understood broadly as any typed,attached, or computer generated information that is presented on asocial network site. This content may include user posted comments orimages and system generated announcements, among others. In a number ofexamples presented in the present specification, an amount of thiscontent, whether human or machine generated, may be actively suppressedusing the system and method as described herein.

Turing now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a computer network (100) whichmay be used in connection with a social network is shown according toone example of the principles described herein. The computer network(100) may comprise a number of user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4)and a social network server (110). Although FIG. 1, shows the computernetwork (100) using a central server (110) to allow individual users ofthe individual user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) to socialize,other types of architectures such as a distributed social network may beused. The present specification, therefore, contemplates the use ofthese other types of device networks.

The user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) may each comprise aprocessor (115), a storage device (120), and a network adapter (125).The processor (115) receives instructions from computer readable programcode stored on the storage device (120). The computer readable programcode may be used by the processor to at least establish a networkconnection with any number of other user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3,105-4) and the social network server (110), accept and send input to theother user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) and the social networkserver (110), and otherwise accept instructions from a user of the userdevice (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) to effect those actions engaged inwhile is user is accessing a social network online.

Although FIG. 1 shows that the user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4)are desktop computers, the user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) maybe any type of computing device capable of connecting to andcommunication with a computer network. The user devices (105-1, 105-2,105-3, 105-4) may therefore include desktop computers, laptop computers,tablet devices, personal digital assistants, smartphones, networkingdevices, and servers, among others. Additionally, any number of userdevices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) may be communicatively coupled tothe network.

The storage device (120) may store data such as executable program codethat is executed by the processor (115) or other processing devices. Aswill be discussed, the storage device (120) may specifically store anumber of applications that the processor (115) executes to implement atleast the functionality of the system and method described herein.

The storage device (120) may include various types of memory modules,including volatile and nonvolatile memory. For example, the data storagedevice (120) of the present example includes Random Access Memory (RAM),Read Only Memory (ROM), and Hard Disk Drive (HDD) memory. Many othertypes of memory may also be utilized, and the present specificationcontemplates the use of many varying type(s) of memory in the storagedevice (120) as may suit a particular application of the principlesdescribed herein. In certain examples, different types of memory in thestorage device (120) may be used for different data storage needs. Forexample, in certain examples the processor (115) may boot from Read OnlyMemory (ROM), maintain nonvolatile storage in the Hard Disk Drive (HDD)memory, and execute program code stored in Random Access Memory (RAM).

The storage device (120) may comprise a computer readable medium or anycombination of one or more computer readable mediums. For example, thedata storage device (120) may be, but not limited to, a system,apparatus, or device implementing electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor devices or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. The computer readable medium may be acomputer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. Acomputer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

A network adapter (125) included with the user devices (105-1, 105-2,105-3, 105-4) may provide communication between the individual userdevices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) and the social network server(110). As will be described below, the network adapter (125) may providethe user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) with the ability touploaded and download content provided on a social network.

The network adapter (125) may facilitate a wired or wirelesscommunication. In the example above where the user device (105-1, 105-2,105-3, 105-4) is a smartphone, the network adapter (125) may facilitatethe actions described herein using a wireless internet connection.Alternatively, the network adapter (125) may facilitate the actionsdescribed above using a cellular network connection. Still further, thenetwork adapter (125) may facilitate the actions described herein usinga number of other connection methods both wired and wireless such as aLAN line connection, an optical fiber line connection, a Bluetoothconnection, and an Ethernet connection, among others.

The user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4) may further comprise auser interface (135). The user interface (135) may be comprised ofhardware or hardware and software that enables a user to interact withthe system (100), any programs being executed by the processors on theuser devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4), and the user devices (105-1,105-2, 105-3, 105-4) themselves. In one example, a user may be able todelete or hide content presented on a social network through the userinterface (135). In another example, a user may use the user interface(135) to select the various user preferences described herein.Specifically, as will be described later, a user may be allowed todetermine which users among the number of users using the social networksite to receive suppression data from so as to advantageously leveragethat suppression data. Leveraging of the suppression data allows theuser to see important content on the social networking site while theunimportant information is suppressed.

The system (100) may be used by a user in order to engage in activitiesassociated with an online social network. Specifically, the user may beallowed to view content posted on the social network by other users ofthe various other user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4). Asdescribed above, however, the amount of information included by theother users on the social networking site may be extensive. In order tohelp hide unimportant content from any given user, the social networkserver (110) may include a suppression monitor (130). The suppressionmonitor (130) may generally monitor all users' activity and determinewhich posts or content on the social networking site should be hid fromany one user. This is done by determining which content on the socialnetworking site other users had previously marked as undesirable orunimportant. In one example, a first user may take advantage of thisindication by another user to automatically have that content suppressedor hidden from view on his or her user device (105-1, 105-2, 105-3,105-4, 110). Hiding the information, may allow the first user to quicklyglean content relevant to him or her in a relatively shorter amount oftime. This reduces the overall amount of content presented to the firstuser leaving the relatively more important content to be consumedquicker. As a result, the first user's time is not wasted on lessvaluable information and the first user may have more time to be engagein other endeavors. Additionally, a user will be presented with the mostimportant information first rather than getting overwhelmed in reviewingany of the information presented to him or her at any given time.

Although FIG. 1 shows that the suppression monitor is included with thesocial network server (110), in other examples the suppression monitor(130) may be located on any of the devices shown in FIG. 1 or includedas a separate computing unit communicatively coupled to a number of theuser devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4, 110). In one example, thesuppression module (130) may exist as a plug-in application implementedon each of the user devices (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4, 110). Inanother example, the suppression module (130) may be comprised of anumber of different modules that may exist on a number of user devices(105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4, 110) and that may work in concert toachieve the functionality of the system (100) and the method (200)described herein.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a method of suppressing content viewedwithin a social network according to one example of principles describedherein. The method (200) may begin with the suppression monitor (FIG. 1,130) monitoring (205) for gestures of rejection of content by a numberof users of the social network.

In one example, the suppression monitor (130) may detect explicit andimplicit gestures engaged in by any given user in order to identifycontent within the social network site that may be of lower value to anyother user. In one example, an implicit gesture may be the inaction of auser when presented with content on the social network site. Forexample, when a user is presented with some content on the socialnetworking site and does not click on or otherwise view that content,the suppression monitor (FIG. 1, 130) may detect this, and determinethat this implicit gesture is indicative of the fact that that user doesnot see that content or the subject of that content as containingworthwhile or important information.

In another example, the suppression monitor (FIG. 1, 130) may monitor(205) for explicit gestures of rejection of content by a number of usersof the social network. The explicit gestures may include any actuationof a user interface device or use of an input device by a user tomanipulate content on the users' social network site. Explicit gesturesmay result in the deletion or hiding of content on the social networksite.

The method (200) may continue with the system (FIG. 1, 100) generating(210) suppression data. The suppression data may describe how, by whom,and what specific content was suppressed by a user. In one example, thesuppression data may indicate which of the users of the social networksite had suppressed the data. In this example, the suppression data maybe tied to that user so that other users may utilize or otherwiseleverage that suppression. Indeed, if the user who has suppressedspecific data has a reputation for being able to read through andquickly hide or delete uninteresting content, associating the name ofthat user with that suppression data may be useful to a subsequent userof the system (FIG. 1, 100) looking to leverage that suppression data.

The suppression data may further describe how the content wassuppressed. In one example, the suppression data may include dataindicative of whether a user has explicitly suppressed content by, forexample, selecting an option to hide or delete the content. In anotherexample, the suppression data may include data indicative of whether ornot the user had implicitly suppressed content by not viewing specificcontent or by not opening an article.

Some content of the social network site may be divided into variousarticles with titles indicating their subject matter. As such, thesuppression data may include data indicating that the article was notopened and based on that information determines that the subject matteror the article itself was not important to the user. In examples wherethe content on the social network site is not divided into articles, thesuppression data may still indicate time spent viewing a portion ofspecific content and determine, using a threshold time limit, whetherthe user had reviewed the content substantively enough to have thatcontent be determined as unimportant or not. The time limit thresholdmay be based on an average amount of time it would take to read a numberof words per minute and how many words were in the content.

The method (200) may continue with the system receiving (215) input froma user indicating that the suppression data is to be leveraged on his orher behalf. Here, a subsequent user who is viewing the content on thesocial networking site may take advantage of the suppression datagenerated (210) and choose to have an amount of the content hidden ordeleted from view. In one example, a first user may indicate, via theuser interface (FIG. 1, 135), that he or she would like to leverage thesuppression data of a specific user. In another example, a first usermay indicate, via the user interface (FIG. 1, 135), that he or she wouldlike to leverage the suppression data of a group or number of users. Inyet another example, a first user may indicate, via the user interface(FIG. 1, 135), that he or she would like to leverage average suppressiondata of all the users of the social networking site. These examples willnow be described in more detail.

In one example a user may be presented, on the user interface (FIG. 1,135), with a list of names of users of the social networking site. Theuser may then be allowed to select from the number of users any specificusers from which the user would like to leverage any associatedsuppression data. Therefore, if a first user was to select the name of asecond user on the user interface (FIG. 1, 135), when the user views thecontent of the social networking site, the user will then be able seeall of the content except that content which was previously suppressedby the second user. The suppression of any content on behalf of thefirst user will therefore be based on the selection of a number of usersand their accompanying suppression data. In one example, as the numberof selected users increases, the amount of content presented to thefirst user may decrease such that the most important content ispresented to the first user. The first user, having trusted the otherusers' determination as to what content is and is not important, willthen be able to quickly review that important information without havingto read as much, if any, unimportant content.

In another example, the user may choose generally a group of users amongthe number of users of the social networking site. Similar as describedabove, the suppression data of the group may be leveraged by the firstuser such that all of the content indicated as being suppressed by thegroup will also be suppressed on the first users user interface (FIG. 1,135) of the user device (105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4, 110). Again, thefirst user may take advantage of the group's determination as to whatcontent is and is not important. This allows, for example, a member of acollaborative group to more quickly bring other members up to speed on adiscussion or topic. This may prove very advantageous in situationswhere a new user has just been accepted into the collaborative group andshould be informed of the most important information in the least amountof time.

In yet another example, the first user may choose to leverage an averageof the suppression data generated by the suppression monitor (FIG. 1,130). In this example, the suppression monitor (FIG. 1, 130) may receivea number of implicit or explicit gestures from a number of usersindicating whether that content was suppressed or not. Based on thatinformation, the suppression monitor (FIG. 1, 135) may further averageout the suppression data such that if the average suppression datareaches a threshold level, the data will also be suppressed if the firstuser were to select that option.

The above examples allow a user to determine, with a desiredspecificity, which suppression data to leverage in order to viewimportant content on the social networking site. In some socialnetworking sites, all users may not necessarily have the same content toview as other users. This may be because, for example, a first user hasassociated him or her self with a number of other users who are not“friends” with a second user. That content similar to the first andsecond users may still be subject to suppression if, for example, thefirst user has explicitly or implicitly suppressed that similar content.In this case, if the second user has chosen to leverage the suppressiondata of the first user, that content which the first and second userhave in common and which was suppressed by the first user will also besuppressed on the second user's user interface (FIG. 1, 135).

The system (FIG. 1, 100) may be even further flexible for the user suchthat the user may be allowed to select how much weight to givesuppression data associated with a specific person. In this case, theuser may decide that if a number of users have chosen to either suppressor not suppress the content, that the suppression data associated withcertain users of that group may be weighted differently such that,although they had suppressed the content, the content is still viewablebased upon the non-suppression of the others. Therefore, in thisexample, not only will the first user be allowed to select from whichusers to receive accompanying suppression data but also select how muchweight a decision to suppress content by that user will affect the firstusers viewable content.

Other examples may exist where generally a preponderance of a number ofpeople able to access specific content and which have indicated that thecontent is to be suppressed results in that content being suppressed onthe first user's interface (FIG. 1, 135). In another example, the system(FIG. 1, 100) may be additive such that every user gets a scoreassociated with them and the scores of all those users are added todetermine whether the content should be suppressed or not. Otherexamples exist where the user is allowed to manipulate the consumptionof the suppression data, and the present specification contemplatesthose alternatives.

As discussed above, once the system (FIG. 1, 100) has received (215)input from a first user indicating that the suppression data associatedwith any number of other users is to be leveraged, the system (FIG. 1,100) then suppresses (220) that content based on the suppression dataand the input sent by the first user. The suppression data mayconstantly be updated for the benefit of the first user such that allcontent that is suppressed by a user who the first user is leveragingsuppression data from will continue to be suppressed. This may changewhen the first user indicates via the user interface (FIG. 1, 135) thathe or she no longer wants to leverage that suppression data.

In one example, the suppression of content on the first user's userinterface (FIG. 1, 135) may be such that the first user may still beable to view the suppressed data. In one example, the collection ofsuppressed data may be stored and retrieved by an assigned name usingthe user interface (FIG. 1, 135). In one example, a link or separatewindow may be provided to the first user such that he or she can quicklyview the content that has been suppressed. This allows the content maybe initially hidden from view, but may still be accessible. Therefore,after choosing to leverage certain suppression data associated withanother user, the first user may still be able to review the content tosee if the other user's determination of what is and is not importantcontent coincides with the first user's determinations. If the firstuser determines that any one user's determinations do not coincide withhis or her own determinations, the user may then decide to adjust theweight or otherwise change the settings associated with the suppressiondata generated from the activities of that user.

In another example, the suppressed content may still be viewable by thefirst user on the user interface (FIG. 1, 135) but may be made to bevisually distinguishable from the unsuppressed content viable on theuser interface (FIG. 1, 135). In one example, the suppressed content maybe darkened such that it will indicate to the first user that thedarkened content has been suppressed. This may allow the first user, inreal time, to review all content at one time but skip over or scan overthe darkened content. In yet another example, the user may be providedwith the option to either continue to see suppressed content as darkenedcontent or choose to have that content placed in a separate folderhidden from an initial view unless specifically accessed. Alternatively,the suppressed content may be distinguished via a color or sizedifference from the unsuppressed content. Again, this may allow a user,in real time, to review all content but skip over or scan over thesuppressed colored or smaller/larger content.

Where specific content has been hidden in response to the first userchoosing to leverage another user's suppression data, an overridefunction may be provided. The override function may allow the first userto undo the suppression of specific content and allow that content to beviewed at least by the first user. In another example, by undoing thesuppression of content, the first user may also be contributing to thesame content not being hidden on other user's interfaces (FIG. 1, 135).For example, if and item of content has been hidden because 1% of theusers of the social network site have chosen to hide it, the firstuser's action of unhiding the content may contribute to the contentbeing unhidden for a number of other users. In this example, the system(FIG. 1, 100) may determine that a certain percentage of users haveunhidden content before that content is unhidden and made viewable toany other users. If and when the content is unhidden due to anotheruser's actions, any single user may be allowed to configure his or hersystem such that they may be allowed to choose whether and how to applyoverrides to keep the content hidden.

The viewable content presented on any user's interface (FIG. 1, 135) mayalso be based on the amount of time any suppressed content has beensuppressed. In one example, the first user may be allowed to choose tohave content that has been suppressed be unsuppressed after a period of,for example, an hour. When the suppressed content has been unsuppressed,it may appear earlier or later chronologically on the interface (FIG. 1,135) thereby allowing the user to review past articles or contentwithout accessing this content in another window. The first user mayalso be relieved of having to skip over the previously suppressedcontent darkened content as described above. This further allows theuser to, if willing, scroll back in time to view older content, butstill be able to filter current content.

In another example, as the suppression monitor (FIG. 1, 130) isdetecting whether users are implicitly or explicitly suppressing contentthrough their gestures, the first user may be allowed to choose which ofthese gestures will be observed in suppressing content on their userinterface (FIG. 1, 135). For example, the first user may wish to havecontent suppressed that was previously suppressed by another user usingexplicit gestures. In this case, any suppression of content by othersusing implicit gestures will not affect the content being viewed by thefirst user. Additionally, the first user may be allowed to choose howthe explicit gestures will affect the content available to him or her.In this example, if another user were to delete content, the first usermay be allowed to choose whether that content is also deleted or if itis simply hidden from his or her view or darkened in the current view asdescribed above. Additionally, if another user were to hide content, thefirst user may be allowed to choose whether that content is also hiddenor if it is to remain viewable.

In another aspect of the present system (FIG. 1, 100) the suppressionmonitor (130) may further determine what a user subsequently does withsuppressed content. For example, if a user hides content within thesocial networking site, in one example, that content may still bepresented later in a separate folder or window as described above. Thesuppression monitor (130) may further monitor whether that same user hassubsequently deleted that content within the folder or window withoutany further review of it. The suppression data described above may theninclude this information and other users may further benefit from itsimplementation. For example, if previously hidden content wassubsequently deleted, the suppression monitor (130) may determine thatthat content was unimportant enough to not include even within asuppressed content window for other users. In this case, the contentwill not be able to be viewed by other users leveraging the suppressiondata in their respective suppressed content.

The system (FIG. 1, 100) may further suppress content based on thesubject of the content. Here, when another user suppresses contentcontaining information on a certain subject, the suppression monitor(130) may use computer program code to analyze the subject of thecontent. Later, content containing that subject may be hidden from viewby other users as well. This may allow users to see that content whichis pertinent to a specific subject while hiding off-topic subjects. Thesystem (FIG. 1, 100) may therefore interpolate patterns supplied by eachof the users' suppression habits and extend those patterns to additionalcontent items both in theirs and other's content.

One example of an environment in which the above described system andmethod may be implemented is in a stock trading forum. Trading stock maybe, to some degree, based upon user perception of the value of the stockpresented by others. In some cases, various users may be able to provideproductive commenting on whether a certain stock will do well in themarket or not. Other users may simply provide opinions which may or maynot be valued by the rest of the users on the forum. Even still, somecomments presented on the forum may be simple bickering as to theviability of the information. Here, the system provides for a user toselect specific persons to whom he or she has previously noted as beingable to see through all the opinionated comments and suppress thatinformation. Leveraging that person's suppression data may allow a stocktrader to quickly decide personally which content to read over andconsume thereby potentially giving him or her the advantage of, atleast, not having to sift through content that would otherwise not be asinteresting, important, or influential in a decision to purchase stock.

The above described method may be implemented on a computing deviceusing a computer program product. The computer program product may,therefore, comprise a computer readable storage medium that comprisescomputer usable program code embodied therewith that, when executed bythe processor (FIG. 1, 115), implements at least the functionality ofthe system and method described herein. Specifically, the computerusable program code may comprise computer usable program code to, whenexecuted by the processor (FIG. 1, 115), monitor (FIG. 2, 205) forgestures of rejection of content by a number of users of the socialnetwork. The computer usable program code may further comprise computerusable program code to, when executed by the processor (FIG. 1, 115),generate (FIG. 2, 210) suppression data. Even further, the computerusable program code may comprise computer usable program code to, whenexecuted by the processor (FIG. 1, 115), receive (FIG. 2, 215) inputfrom a user indicating that the suppression data is to be leveraged onhis or her behalf. Still further, the computer usable program code maycomprise computer usable program code to, when executed by the processor(FIG. 1, 115), suppress (FIG. 2, 220) that content based on thesuppression data and the preferences selected by the first user.

Aspects of the present system and method are described herein withreference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods,apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to examplesof the principles described herein. Each block of the flowchartillustrations and block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and block diagrams, may be implemented bycomputer usable program code. The computer usable program code may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the computer usable program code, when executed via,for example, the processor (FIG. 1, 115) of the computer devices (FIG.1, 105-1, 105-2, 105-3, 105-4, 110) or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, implement the functions or acts specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. In one example, thecomputer usable program code may be embodied within a computer readablestorage medium; the computer readable storage medium being part of thecomputer program product.

The specification and figures describe a system and method forsuppressing content provided on a social network site. This system mayhave a number of advantages, including providing a user of a socialnetworking site to utilize suppression content generated through otherusers' actions to suppress unimportant content. Further, the system mayprovide for a user to specifically determine what suppression data touse to suppress unimportant content. Even further, a user of the systemmay further choose how the suppression data will affect the viewablecontent on a user interface while accessing the social networking site.Through this, the user is able to address the most important contentavailable on the social networking site without spending time viewingcontent that has been previously deemed as unimportant.

The preceding description has been presented to illustrate and describeexamples of the principles described. This description is not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit these principles to any precise formdisclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light ofthe above teaching.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of suppressing content of a socialnetwork, the method comprising: with a processor of a suppressionmonitoring computing device: monitoring for a number of gestures ofrejection of content and deletion of rejected content on the socialnetwork from each of a plurality of users of the social network;generating individualized suppression data associated with each of theusers of the social network based on the gestures of rejection anddeletion of rejected content by each of the individual users of thesocial network, the suppression data comprising content on the socialnetwork rejected and deleted by each of the individual users; receivinginput from a first computing device associated with a first user of thesocial network among a number of computing devices indicating thatsuppression data associated with a second user is to be leveraged; andsuppressing content based on the suppression data associated with thesecond user when input from the first computing device indicates thesuppression data associated with the second user is to be leveraged;wherein suppressing content based on suppressed data further comprisesrendering suppressed content viewable at the first computing device butvisually distinguishable by a user of the first computing device fromany unsuppressed content.
 2. The method of claim 1, in which visuallydistinguishing the suppressed content form the unsuppressed contentcomprises distinguishing the suppressed content from the unsuppressedcontent by a color difference, a size difference, or combinationsthereof.
 3. The method of claim 1, in which suppressing content based onsuppressed data further comprises removing suppressed content from theview of a user of the first computing device and placing the suppresseddata in a data storage device accessible to the user.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, in which monitoring for a number of gestures of rejection ofcontent on the social network further comprises monitoring whether therejection of content amounts to a deletion or hiding of the content. 5.The method of claim 1, in which receiving input from the first computingdevice among the number of computing devices indicating that thesuppression data associated with the second user is to be leveragedfurther comprises receiving: an indication from the first computingdevice of specific suppression data associated with a group of usersamong a number of users is to be leveraged; an indication from the firstcomputing device of specific suppression data associated with all of theusers of the number of users is to be leveraged; or combinationsthereof.
 6. A system for suppressing content within a social network,the system comprising: a suppression monitor communicatively coupled toa computer network, the computer network comprising a number of userdevices; and a processor communicatively coupled to the suppressionmonitor to: monitor for gestures of rejection of content on the socialnetwork by individual users of the social network, wherein the gestureof rejection of content comprise implicit and explicit acts by theindividual users of the social network; generate suppression data basedon those gestures of the individual users of the social network, thesuppression data describing, for each individual user, what specificcontent is being rejected and how the content is being rejected, eitherimplicitly or explicitly; and suppress content on the social networkaccessed by a first user device of the number of user devices based onthe suppression data upon receiving instructions from the first userdevice indicating that the suppression data is to be leveraged on thesocial network accessed by the first user device; wherein theinstructions from the first user device further indicates that specificsuppression data associated with a specific user of the number of usersof the social network is to be leveraged; and wherein suppressingcontent based on suppressed data further comprises rendering suppressedcontent viewable at the first user device but visually distinguishableby a user of the first user device from any unsuppressed content.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, in which receiving input from the first user deviceamong the number of users indicating that the suppression data is to beleveraged further comprises receiving: an indication from the first userdevice of specific suppression data associated with a group of usersdevices among a number of users devices is to be leveraged; anindication from the first user device of specific suppression dataassociated with all of the user devices of the number of user devices isto be leveraged; or combinations thereof.
 8. The system of claim 6, inwhich visually distinguishing the suppressed content from theunsuppressed content comprises distinguishing the suppressed contentfrom the unsuppressed content by a color difference, a size difference,or combinations thereof.
 9. The system of claim 6, in which theprocessor suppressing content based on suppressed data further comprisesremoving suppressed content from the view of a user of a user device andplacing the suppressed data in a data storage device accessible to theuser.
 10. The system of claim 6, in which monitoring for gestures ofrejection of content on the social network further comprises monitoringwhether the rejection of content amounts to a deletion or hiding of thecontent.
 11. The system of claim 6, in which monitoring for a number ofgestures of rejection of content on the social network further comprisesmonitoring for a subsequent deletion of any suppressed data.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, in which if a subsequent deletion of any suppresseddata is detected, the deleted content is also deleted from view of auser of the first user device during the suppression of the contentbased on suppressed data.
 13. A computer program product for suppressingcontent provided on a social network site, the computer program productcomprising: a computer readable storage medium comprising computerusable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program codeto, when executed by a processor: monitor for a number of implicit andexplicit gestures of rejection of content and deletion of content on thesocial network from a number of users of the social network; generateindividualized suppression data based on the gestures of rejection andthe deletion of rejected content associated with each of the number ofusers, the individualized suppression data describing how each of thenumber of users delete and reject content; receive input from a firstuser device among the number of user devices accessing the socialnetwork site indicating that the suppression data is to be leveraged bythe first user device on the social network site, the input comprisingan indication of specific suppression data associated with a specificuser among a number of users is to be leveraged; and suppress contentbased on the suppression data; in which deletion of rejected content inthe number of computing devices causes the content to be deleted fromview on the first computing device; and in which the computer usableprogram code to, when executed by a processor, suppress content based onthe suppression data further comprises computer program code to renderthe suppressed content viewable to the user but visually distinguishablefrom any unsuppressed content.
 14. The computer program product of claim13, in which the input further comprises: an indication from the firstuser of specific suppression data associated with a group of users amonga number of users is to be leveraged; an indication from the first userof specific suppression data associated with all of the users of thenumber of users is to be leveraged; or combinations thereof.
 15. Thecomputer program product of claim 13, in which visually distinguishingthe suppressed content form the unsuppressed content comprisesdistinguishing the suppressed content from the unsuppressed content by acolor difference, a size difference, or combinations thereof.